March 22, 2009

The over-65 population in Israel represents approximately 10% of the entire population. By 2020, this figure is expected to rise to 12%, i.e. over a million people.

The geriatric health service system in Israel is a combination of the Canadian and US health service models.

For acutely ill and rehabilitation patients, the health system is like the Canadian one, organized and completely funded within a public health framework. Services are provided by the Sick Funds according to a legally defined service basket.

On the other hand, long-term care (LTC) , which includes home and institutional treatment, adopts a funding model similar to that in the US.

At the time of legislation of the National Medical Insurance Law in 1994, the original intention was to operate the reforms (i.e. transfer responsibility for geriatric services from the Health Ministry to the Sick Funds) within three years.

The discussion was held in the framework of a Social Justice Forum held at the Gertner Institute under the guidance of Prof. Mark Kellerfield, Director of the Geriatric Department at the Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and former Head of the Geriatric Section of the Ministry of Health and Dr. Iris Rassuli, Director of the Community Services Department, Geriatric Section, Ministry of Health.

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